China's Gu Ailing led the qualifying round to advance to the FIS Freeski Halfpipe World Cup women's final in Genting Snow Park on Thursday.

The injury-hit Olympic champion was ranked second with 85.50 points after the first attempt and went on to finish atop with an impressive second run that scored 94.75 points in the same place where she became a double Olympic gold medalist almost two years ago. 

Gu postponed surgery after hurting her shoulder a week ago in Austria to make her first appearance of the new season this time, with the women's final set to take place on Saturday.

Meanwhile, China's Li Fanghui and Zhang Kexin also advanced to the final with a 3-4 finish in Thursday's qualifying round.